The air was dark and sombre as Dei stepped up to the dais in the
middle of the Realm, the five archangels (Hikari was still unconscious
in Dei's palace) seated around him, the other angels crowded around
the circle. "Greetings, fellow angels. I trust you know why we are
here today."

He waved a hand as he spoke, gesturing at the darkness around.
"The Realm cannot survive much longer. We have but a few bits of magic
left, and when that is out, everyone will fall. We have but two
choices, to let that happen to us, or to create a New Council."

"Wait!" Pyrrhus spoke up suddenly, and everyone stared at him.
"If a New Council is formed, even if all of us archangels decide to
continue on in it, you will have to leave! I don't want that. Is there
not some other way?"

"I'm afraid this is the custom of the Realm. It has happened
once long ago, once every ten thousand years." Dei sighed. "The Head
Angel is reborn then, and with him comes renewed power. I will pass
over to the other side of the bridge." He smiled at Pyrrhus. "The
Realm still needs its Fire Archangel. Don't let it down."

Pyrrhus looked very angry indeed. "Dei, if you leave, be sure I
will pass over, if not to follow you then of grief!" He stormed out of
the meeting circle, and everyone stared at the Head Angel, who sighed
and left as well.

Fire Angels were not known for their love of water. But it was
over the largest lake in the Realm that Pyrrhus chose to stop, wings
beating in mid-air. A tear fell into the depths as he gazed at the
distant horizon.

Why the Realm? Why Dei? It was unfair. He didn't want Dei to go.

A wave of exhaustion floated over him, and he fought it down,
while knowing that after the Light Angel the Fire would be the next.
He was about to fly off when another wave hit him, and he felt himself
slipping out of consciousness...

"Pyrrhus!!" Dei shot out from nowhere, it seemed, and he caught
the falling angel a second before he would've hit the water's surface.
The Fire Angel was so light in his arms as he beat his wings strongly,
flying upwards and away from the lake.

Pyrrhus had almost drowned. He frowned, brushing away a lock of
dark hair from the latter's face.

"Kera!" Cerei raced across the hangar, with Alexis and Keiran in
hot pursuit, as the GoldenKestrel landed and the door opened. Kera
looked quite tired, but very happy, as she emerged, and Corey, Caseo
and Revlis were smiling delightedly as they spotted the huge, huge,
huge bag of food Alexis had brought along.

"Something to feed you before dinner, you're probably very
hungry," she said knowingly as they pounced on the food and started
eating ravenously. "I must tell the mechanics to open the storeboxes
so you can store frozen food in there. How did it go?"

"Oh Mother, it was so good we stayed behind!" Kera caught her
breath, explaining everything to Alexis and Keiran, the latter getting
quite annoyed as she went on about Luyin's plans and what he did.
"I've a good mind to go there and kill that fellow myself," he
muttered.

"Now, now, darling, don't," Alexis said soothingly, and Keiran
huffed irritably. "Now, Kera, you're going to school tomorrow, so go
get a good night's sleep."

"Good morning!" Shane and Ran were waiting expectantly in the
school courtyard as Kera and Cerei stumbled into the grounds, the
former yawning, the latter looking exceedingly perky. Corey was
trailing along behind them, looking torn between joining in the
laughter and keeping his dignity.

"Oh, Corey, are you coming along too?" Kera asked cheerfully.
"You're not wearing the uniform, you know. Are you going to come to
classes too, or what?"

"I will be waiting for you after school," Corey said shortly. "I
have learnt everything I need to know from intense satellite-based
school, and I do not see the need for repetition. I have yet to finish
fixing the Avean."

They watched as he walked away, Revlis running along after him,
and then they headed silently into the school. Chattering students
surrounded them, and Kera sighed as she stared at the ground.

They couldn't ever be the same as the other students. They knew
about things that happened on other planets, life-threatening things,
been there even. How could they actually live a normal life?

"Heal," Dei breathed, and sparks flew from his fingers into
Pyrrhus' hand, granting him power to sustain him for a bit of time. A
bit being relative. The Fire Archangel was sleeping quietly on a bed
of soft silk, ominously like Hikari.

"My lord?" Kaelin was standing by the door, and his face was
filled with worry. "I feel you ought to see this." He gestured behind
him, and Dei gasped.

The Realm's trees were fading away, each one seeming to
disappear just like that, and Terran himself was nowhere to be seen.
Kaelin sighed. "Terran is trying to save the precious trees just by
the Central Statue, but he cannot last for too long."

"I won't stand in your way if you wish to go, Dei," Pyrrhus said
suddenly, albeit weakly, and the Fire Angel struggled to his feet.
"But if you go, I will follow you!"

"How can that be possible?" Dei asked gently, placing his hand
on Pyrrhus' shoulder. "How could you pass over without the other
archangels? I do not know. I have only lived once as the Head Angel in
the Realm."

"There is a way," Kaelin spoke quietly. "The archangels have
freedom to decide for themselves when the Head Angel passes over. I
have stayed for three lifetimes of the Realm already, and Zephyr two,
and Hikari and Shiro four. But Terran's predecessor Basyin and the ex-
fire archangel Eiri chose to pass over in the last lifetime. You have
but one decision, and there can be no coming back from it."

"I know well what I would choose," Pyrrhus said immediately, and
he looked very determined. "I would go with you."

"I do not know if that would be right for you," Dei said softly.
"After all, the Realm needs a fire archangel, you know. We cannot let
there be an unbalance of the elements."

"Would you have me be unhappy forever?" Pyrrhus asked softly.

"Never." Dei placed his arm around Pyrrhus' shoulders, and the
Fire Angel stared at him impassively. "I would not want that, indeed.
Now go to sleep. You need your rest. Tomorrow we shall decide."

"I have decided that I don't want to go to school tomorrow,"
Kera groaned as the four of them emerged into the courtyard after a
long, hard day of math, language and other academic crap. "I mean,
that teacher's biased towards me. Just because I'm not like other
people doesn't give her the right to ask me the hardest questions in
the book!"

"Oh come on, you're improving at least, I think she sees it,"
Ran said, and Shane nodded, the latter tired from music class after
school, at a time when the others had remedial math. "I mean, you only
got 5 out of 20 questions wrong today..."

"Some achievement," Kera mumbled. "I seem to remember that all
of you passed the last test with flying colours." She caught sight of
Corey by the school gate, and he smiled as he saw them.

"Heylos!" Cerei grinned as she patted the silver wolf standing
next to Corey, and Revlis wagged his tail furiously, sending a shower
of sand and dirt flying. "Hey, hey, hey! No need for that, it's only
been a day since you last saw us!"

~What is one day?~ Revlis asked rhetorically as he loped easily
next to them on the way home. ~I have waited 2 decades since Master
passed away. A day is nothing, but even these simple pleasures are
worth savouring, say you?~

"I suppose so," Shane said, and he looked very wistful. "I have
waited 15 years too for my father to accept me."

"I see," Corey said thoughtfully, but he didn't say anything
further, and neither did the others for a few minutes. The sun was
setting, and in the distance wolves howled.

"Kera, Kera!" Alexis rode up to them on a fine grey mare, her
sword drawn and her face quite pale. "Come quickly, all of you! No
time to waste!"

"What's wrong, Mother?" Kera asked, just as Keiran led towards
them a group of horses, all saddled and bridled. He too looked very
ruffled, much unlike his usual dignified self. "Hurry up!"

Kera scrambled onto one of the horses, the others following
suit. Alexis led the way back to the palace at a gallop. The soldiers
were unusually hushed, and they parted reverently for the company to
pass.

"Quickly." Alexis led them down the corridors, after throwing
the reins of the horses to one of the soldiers. "This way, don't
dawdle, there's no time!"

They filed into a strange room Kera had only seen once or twice
before, and only then when she was very young. King Kiaran was pale
under the bedclothes, and Kyran was sitting by his side, face
contorted with worry. Keien was standing by the window, Shirin
clutching at his shoulder. Queen Rena was seated in an armchair,
almost sobbing.

"Father, are you alright? The doctor's medicine, have you taken
it?" The panicked tone in Keiran's voice told the children that it was
no simple illness the king was enduring. "Kera is here."

"Kera," King Kiaran murmured, and the young princess headed over
to him, eyes wide. "Don't worry, Grandfather! You eat the medicine,
and you'll be fine! The doctor will save you!"

Revlis was looking as though he had a great internal struggle
battling him, and he bowed his head. The Zarisians were immortal.
Zarisi had said so. They could never die.

But they were cursed, in a way, to watch as their loved ones
fell one by one before their eyes.

"Here..." King Kiaran moved his hand with great difficulty, and
he deposited a package wrapped in paper into Kera's hands.
"Remember...put what I give you to good use, and you..."

For a long tense moment the room was silent, and then it was
though a spirit had flown out of the window, leaving behind a great
sense of peace. Alexis turned away, weeping, and Queen Rena seemed
frozen with shock. Kyran went over to Keien and Shirin, hugging them
unabashedly.

Keiran stared for a moment, and his eyes were emotionless and
unreadable. Then he turned and blindly strode out of the room. Alexis
glanced after him. "Oh dear."

Alexis hurried after Keiran, almost knocking over a soldier in
her haste. The prince, it turned out, had retired to the meadows,
where Danaea and Laurae were lying in the clover contentedly. Keiran
himself was leaning against Laurae's flank, staring into a distant
spot in the grass. He didn't look up when Alexis approached, and she
knelt down, touching his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"You think?" Keiran's sarcasm hadn't really improved even after
so many years. "Why would I not be?"

"Keiran," Alexis admonished, and the prince stared at her
blankly. "You know your father's lived a good long life. Are you going
to fall to pieces because of this? Elisia needs its princes more than
ever now."

"I don't know..." Keiran obviously wasn't listening as he
absentmindedly stroke Laurae's fur. For a moment his eyes reflected
what they had been when Alexis first met him, cold and without
feeling.

Alexis didn't know what to say. So she just hugged Keiran, and
he sighed deeply, that being his only show of emotion.

Back in her room, Kera stared at the package, treating it with
reverence. It was nothing special, really, just wrapped up in brown
paper with string. Cerei stared at her. "Quick, open it."

"Grandfather gave it to me," Kera said slowly. "I don't want
to...spoil it."

"He meant you to open it." Corey spoke from his position by the
door. Revlis was sitting on a chair, looking quite subdued. "I think
it might be important. Do it."

Carefully Kera undid the string and opened the package,
revealing a folded piece of paper and a tiny box set with emeralds.
Emeralds. The classic symbol of the les Alyxande family. It was
reflected in their very eyes.

She opened the box. Inside lay a tiny brass key on a string,
along with a small emerald gem in a gold set. The letter rustled as
though impatient, and she read it.

Dear Kera,

Perhaps you wonder why I choose to leave this to you and not to
your father or someone else. I have my reasons for this, but they will
soon become known to you. Some are chosen because they can, but some
are chosen because they want to.

Remember that the flow of time waits for no-one. Even as I write
this there are people who are seeking help in their lives. They have
no choice, because circumstances prompt them to. Elisia has long been
a planet of peace, but we too must understand others' plight.

The key I give you unlocks a door on the altar of Erisa upon our
planet. Its locations are forbidden for I to tell, but through
miracle, through determination and through pure love and courage, one
will be able to find it. Stand by those who do likewise to you, and in
desperate times look to the emerald I give you.

What you will find will help more than one person, if you are
wise. Use what you find there, and hasten to unlock its power to free
those in bondage.

Kiaran

"What's it mean? I can't understand much of it," Kera said
finally after a long pause.

"I think it means you're supposed to look for something," Ran
said slowly. "And then use that to help someone."

"But who?" Kera sighed, fingering the brass key.

"Who knows." Shane said, taking a deep breath. "And now I've got
to get home. My father's actually coming home for dinner for once, and
I don't want to miss it."

He and Ran left, and Revlis sighed. "So, Kera, what are you
going to do about this?"

"I don't know." Somehow a plan was beginning to form in Kera's
mind. "My parents won't let me do anything dangerous, but I need to do
this. Call Lourdes. And Caseo." Her eyes glinted with determination.
"We're going to fulfil this task."